Russian, U.S. Officials Resume Nuclear Arms Talks

Officials from Russia and the United States are scheduled to resume talks today in Geneva on a new nuclear arms reduction treaty.

The new accord would replace START, which expired on December 5.

Last week, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said the agreement was "95 percent ready."

Medvedev expressed optimism a deal would be done, but suggested U.S. plans to deploy parts of a revised U.S. antimissile shield in Europe could be a possible obstacle.

Medvedev and U.S. President Barack Obama discussed the talks last month when they met during the Copenhagen climate summit, but failed to clinch a deal.

In July last year, Obama and Medvedev agreed the new treaty should cut the number of nuclear warheads on each side to between 1,500 and 1,675, and the number of delivery vehicles to between 500 and 1,100.